Fireboy DML - Playboy (2LP) - 45RPM Bone Vinyl

Fireboy DML’s third album, Playboy, arrived on August 5, 2022 through YBNL Nation and EMPIRE, and it feels like the moment he lets himself breathe. After the emotional intensity of Laughter, Tears & Goosebumps in 2019 and the moody shimmer of Apollo in 2020, this one glides. It is lighter on its feet, more flirtatious, and yet it never loses the writerly touch that made him stand out in the first place.

The run-up was powered by Peru, the 2021 single produced by Shizzi that turned into a global smash when Ed Sheeran hopped on the remix. That version climbed to number two on the UK Singles Chart and sent Fireboy to stadium stages in Europe, the kind of crossover you hear echoed in Playboy’s confidence. He knows his voice travels now, so he leans into melodies that stick and rhythms that feel like a night drive with the windows down.

Playboy opens with a wink, the title track floating on featherlight percussion and a hook that lands on first listen. There is a breezy swagger here that suits him, but the writing stays careful. He is not simply bragging, he is arranging small details of desire and doubt, then letting the beat take care of the rest. Bandana with Asake is the record’s livewire, a meeting of two YBNL stars at full tilt. Asake’s chant-like cadences meet Fireboy’s silkier phrasing, and the result sounds like a Lagos street party bleeding into a late-night club set. It is the kind of duet that turns fans into lifers.

Diana brings Chris Brown and Shenseea into the picture, and the chemistry clicks. The groove is loose, the pockets are deep, and Fireboy threads a calm, melodic line between Brown’s R&B instincts and Shenseea’s dancehall bite. Compromise with Rema is another smart pairing. They do not crowd each other, they trade space and turn the track into a conversation between two distinct styles of Afropop, one airy and romantic, the other sly and syncopated. Elsewhere, Afro Highlife nods to the palm-wine and highlife textures that live under modern Afrobeats, with bright guitars and a tempo that invites a gentle sway rather than a full-on rave. Ashawo plays with nightlife mythology but softens it with vulnerability. He is observant, almost diaristic, which gives the album a warm core even when it flashes plenty of gloss.

What makes Playboy work is the sequencing. Fireboy drifts from sunlit midtempo grooves to more urgent club rhythms without losing the thread. The production leaves room for his voice to sit up front, so even the busiest drums feel weightless. You can hear the care in the mixes, the way the bass tucks under the vocal rather than swallowing it. That clarity is part of his signature now, a contrast to some of the more maximal Afropop projects chasing sheer volume. He prefers glide to roar, and it pays off.

There is a cultural story running through it too. Afrobeats had already taken a firm place on the global charts by 2022, but Playboy captures a specific pivot point, where Nigerian pop could host a UK megastar one minute and invite dancehall royalty the next without losing its center. Fireboy carries that balance with ease. He is still the romantic who wrote Jealous, just older, funnier, and a little more willing to wink at his own fame.

If you collect Fireboy DML vinyl, this is the one that will get the most spins. A clean pressing of Playboy vinyl lets those airy synths and subtle guitars bloom, and the low end sits nice and round. Among Fireboy DML albums on vinyl, it is the most front-to-back listen, perfect for a living room gathering that turns into a slow two-step. I found my copy the way many of us do, half by chance, flipping through a bin at a Melbourne record store while visiting friends. But you can also buy Fireboy DML records online if you are not in crate-digging range, and there are plenty of options for fans hunting down imports with good shipping to folks chasing vinyl records Australia wide.

Playboy is not trying to be a grand statement. It is a hangout album, the sound of an artist enjoying his powers and choosing grace over bombast. That choice makes it stick. Months later, you remember the choruses, then you notice the small choices underneath, and you realize he has given Afropop another quietly luminous landmark.